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Dimensions: 105 by 75cm.
41 3/8 by 29 1/2 in.
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Provenance: Galerie Ile de France, Paris
Galleria Notizie, Turin
Luigi Campi, Turin
Hans Neuendorf, Hamburg
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1989
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Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Van Leer, Francis Picabia, 1927, no. 5
Turin, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Francis Picabia, 1974-75, no. 46, illustrated in the catalogue
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Francis Picabia, 1976, no. 157, illustrated in the catalogue
Brussels, Musée d'Ixelles, Picabia, 1983, no. 33, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Dusseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle; Zurich, Kunsthaus and Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Francis Picabia, 1984, no. 63 (Dusseldorf and Stockholm); no. 70 (Zurich), illustrated in the catalogue
Seibu Takanawa, The Museum of Modern Art and Tokyo, The Seibu Museum of Art, Francis Picabia, 1984, no. 36, illustrated in the catalogue
Madrid, Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso del Ministerio de Cultura and Barcelona, Centre Cultural de la Caixa de Pensions, Francis Picabia, 1985, no. 66, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Nîmes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Francis Picabia, 1986, no. 54, illustrated in the catalogue
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and Frankfurt, Galerie Neuendorf, Picabia 1879 - 1953, 1988, no. 27, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Didier Imbert Fine Art, Picabia, 1990, no. 23, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Barcelona, Fondation Joan Miró, Antiguita / modernitat en l'art del sehle XX, 1990-91, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Cologne, Galerie Gmurzynska, Malerei im Prisma - Freundeskreis Sonia und Robert Delaunay, 1991, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Antwerp, Ronny van de Velde, Francis Picabia, 1993, no. 27, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Mallorca, Fundacio Pilar i Joan Miró, Picabia, 1993, illustrated in the catalogue
Valencia, IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalèz and Barcelona, Fondation Antoni Tapies, Francis Picabia, Maquinas y Espanolas, 1995-96, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Coruña, Palacio Municipal de Exposiciones Kiosco Alfonso, Francis Picabia - O soño Español, 1996, no. 21, illustrated in the catalogue
Berlin, Martin-Gropius Bau, The Age of Modernism - Art in the 20th Century, 1997, no. 358, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art; Fukushima, Iwaki City Art Museum and Osaka, The Museum of Art, Francis Picabia, 1999, no. 24, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Biarritz, Le Bellevue and Zaragoza, La Lonja, Palacio de Montemuzo, Los Juegos en el Arte del Siglo XX, 2002, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
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Literature: William A. Camfield, Francis Picabia, New York, 1970, fig. 21, illustrated p. 38 (with incorrect medium)
William A. Camfield, Francis Picabia: His Art, Life and Times, Princeton, 1979, no. 273, illustrated in colour pl. XV
Maria Lluïsa Borràs, Picabia, Paris, 1985, no. 639, illustrated in colour p. 330
Sarah Wilson, Francis Picabia: Accommodations of Desire. Transparences 1924-1932, New York, 1989, no. II, illustrated in colour p. 35
Serge Fauchereau, Découvrons l'art: Picabia, Paris, 1996, no. 35, illustrated in colour
Marianne and Pierre Nahon, Francis Picabia, Classique et merveilleux (exhibition catalogue), Vence, 1998, illustrated p. 39
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Notes:
Les Trois grâces belongs to a series of works Picabia executed between 1924 and 1927 known as the 'Monster' paintings. These compositions treat traditional subject matter, either images inspired by Old Master paintings, or conventional themes such as female figures or couples (fig. 1), often based on society people with whom the artist came in contact. During this time Picabia often used ripolin, a household paint characterised by a shiny, brilliant quality, and rendered his subjects in unexpected colour combinations. Furthermore, he deliberately distorted the figures' forms to disquieting effect. Features become mask-like, with pointed noses and an emphasis on large almond-shaped eyes frequently multiplied on the face. This replication of eyes and the superimposition of images were to become central features of Picabia's Transparences (fig. 2) of the period that followed.
A number of works from Picabia's 'Monster' series were based on Old Master paintings, and in the present work the artist drew inspiration from Rubens's The Three Graces (fig. 3). Other examples of paintings from this period take their themes, for example, from Dürer, Titian and from Michelangelo's depictions for the Sistine Chapel, in which the sense of movement, drama and the contortions of the human body certainly appealed to Picabia's imagination. His intention in seeking inspiration from Old Masters is, however, not entirely known, as Picabia did not follow the general trend of rappel à l'ordre, which influenced much of the art produced in the 1920s, following the destruction of World War I. His intent was probably fuelled by his Dadaist tendencies to rejoice in the illogical and to subvert the traditionally accepted notions in art. During this time Picabia was one of the leading members of the Dada group, one of the most revolutionary movements in 20th century art that fundamentally challenged the existing art canon.
In discussing Picabia's take on Old Masters, critics have often compared his paintings to those of Pablo Picasso, characterising Picabia as his follower. Maria Lluïsa Borràs, however, argued that it was Picabia who pioneered this style: 'Picabia was in fact anticipating by over fifteen years the Picasso who was to take as his theme works by Cranach, Altdorfer, Poussin and Courbet - or the Picasso of the fifties who, before the adoring eyes of the specialists, was to transform the works of El Greco, Delacroix, Velázquez and even Manet in ways not fundamentally different from that used by Picabia in the twenties' (M. L. Borràs, op. cit., p. 292). In Les Trois grâces Picabia reduces the original composition to its key elements, and transforms the details of the surrounding environment to black spots and straight, zig-zag and undulating lines that provide a condensed and witty substitute for Rubens's elaborate landscape. Furthermore, the subtle modelling and the chiaroscuro of the earlier painting are here replaced by a bold, resolutely two-dimensional treatment and bright, strongly outlined patches of colour characteristic of his works from this series (fig. 4).
Borràs also explained Picabia's working process that resulted in these painting: 'The few sketches, previous studies or drawings that have come down to us - since Picabia either gave them to the fist person who asked for them or destroyed them - permit us to suppose that he worked out each of these transformations of masterpieces according to a certain process and in successive versions. In this assault on the masterpiece, so reminiscent of the 'murder of painting' by other artists, it is not surprising that Picabia should have been interested in including the theme of love and beauty, of Venus and Adonis' (ibid., pp. 292-93). By transforming these subjects according to his own, unorthodox vision, Picabia created images resonating with energy and creative power.
Fig. 1, Francis Picabia, First Meeting (The Lovers), 1927, ripolin on canvas, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Fig. 2, Francis Picabia, Sphinx, 1929, oil on canvas, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris
Fig. 3, Peter Paul Rubens, The Three Graces, 1638-40, Prado Museum, Madrid
Fig. 4, Francis Picabia, Figure on the Beach, 1926-27, oil on board, Private Collection
